


Walk with you

by tiahwinchester



Series: 369 Chapters of Ships [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, geovin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-25 15:49:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6201379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiahwinchester/pseuds/tiahwinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"From the first time i walked you home from school you stole my heart."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Walk with you

**Author's Note:**

> I have a very love/hate relationship with this fic. I love the concept, I'm not very fussed on the execution. I just kind of look it like eh, instead of y e s, like I usually do.

Geoff liked to be that guy that cheered everyone up. I mean, he was a funny guy, making people laugh was his thing. So when he saw Gavin Free, his across-the-street-neighbor, walking home from school one Friday afternoon with his head down, clutching the straps of his bag, refusing to look at the beautiful cloudless sky above, he couldn't _not_ do anything. 

He was just about to get in the car with Jack so they could drive to downtown Austin, but instead he hitched his bag back up his shoulder and leaned down into the car to talk to Jack, "Hey, I think I'm gonna skip this afternoon, but we're still on for Saturday alright?" he said.

"Yeah, sure dude. Have a good one." said Jack as he started the car. Geoff closed the door and stepped walked behind Jack's car and jogged to catch up to Gavin.

He softened his footsteps as he got closer to him, and when he was right behind him he reached out and nudged him, "Boo." he said.

Gavin, of course, jumped, but when he looked up to see Geoff he shook his head, "You're such a tosser." he huffed. Geoff had never really _hung out_ with Gavin, there were those Tupperware parties that both their mothers attended and were forced to join so they made the best of it by stealing a whole bowl of chips and sitting in the lawn enjoying the sunset, but neither of them had ever invited the other out or over. Gavin moved in across the street when he Geoff was in the 9th grade, and because Gavin was only a tiny 7th grader at the time, they never really spoke apart from the occasional hi. But as they got older, they found that they had more in common than they first thought. Still, Geoff thought it'd be a bit weird for him, as a senior, to invite a sophomore to go out drinking with him and his mates.

"Well, any insult you say sounds like a compliment with your accent so, thank you." he joked. Gavin didn't respond, just continued to stare at the ground as they walked. "So, how was your day?" he asked when the silence stretched on.

He shrugged, "Didn't do much." he murmured.

Geoff nodded, "Cool, cool. Is Mr. Sorola giving you a hard time in math?" he nudged the Brit's shoulder with his elbow and chuckled lightly. When Gavin shrugged again, he continued, "ah, I remember very vividly the day I failed grade 10 math and they told me I might be kept down. All I wanted to say was, 'Listen, I couldn't give two ****s if I was kicked out in grade 7 let alone now, please, give me an excuse to finally move on with my life.' but I knew my mom really wanted me to get through school, so I pulled my **** together," he paused, "a little anyway." The only sign that Gavin had even listened to him, was the little huff he gave through his nose. Geoff put a hand on his shoulder, "Did something happen today? Did someone say something?" he urged, he wasn't particularly _worried_ about him, but he was the guy that cheered everyone up, and he wasn't going to let this be his downfall.

"No. I'm alright" said Gavin in a light voice. His tone and face, from what little Geoff could see, was expressionless, he couldn't tell if the younger boy was upset, or tired, or bored, or just in another world at the moment, he just seemed to be gone to the world. 

"Whatcha doin this afternoon?" Geoff asked to further the conversation.

Again, Gavin shrugged. "I dunno." he mumbled.

"Got any plans for this weekend?"

Geoff really just wanted to permanently attach weights to Gavin's shoulders because a-****ing-gain, he shrugged. "Nothing at the moment."

Geoff nodded, although Gavin couldn't see it, "Well, I was going to go Achievement Hunting this weekend if you wanted to help? I was going to get Jack to jump online with me, but I'll be honest with you, the guy kind of sucks at games."

Gavin replied back in another low mutter "I've got stuff to do at home, so I can't," he added "sorry." after a short pause, thinking that he must sound a little rude.

"That's cool, home comes first, I get that. I should probably clean my room one day. Although, I'm gonna start paying rent in a few weeks so really, I should be able to do whatever the **** I want." he laughed. But Gavin didn't. Now Geoff was a little worried, and they were coming up to the beginning of their street. "Gavin, seriously, did something happen at school? Is it something at home? Seriously, I may be a dick, but I'm not going to go blabbing to everyone about how your Uncle diddled your butthole at the Christmas party." when Gavin still didn't say anything, Geoff's eye's widened, "Oh, god, that wasn't actually it was it?"

Gavin shook his head, but still didn't even show any signs of smiling, "No, everything's all good. I'm absolutely fine. Just...tired."

Somehow, Geoff didn't believe that at all, but it was too late to pry, they were already in the middle of the road between their two houses. "Well, have a good weekend, doing-home stuff?" said Geoff, smiling.

Gavin flashed him a very brief half smile and waved him away, walking quickly into his home.

As Geoff slipped his bag off his shoulder and carelessly tossed onto a pile of clothes, he thought about Gavin. He knew, that when Monday ticked around, he would make it the week's goal to make Gavin Free laugh.

* * *

Geoff waited for Gavin to come out of his front door on Monday morning, and at almost the exact same time, he stepped outside his. They walked down the driveway at the same time, and although Gavin didn't acknowledge him, Geoff approached him with a smile. "Hey, Gavin." he greeted, "Lovely morning, hey?" it really wasn't. The clouds overhead were grey and although they didn't look on the verge of bursting, the torrential downpour was bound to happen sooner or later.

And that sooner or later, was Wednesday afternoon. After not making any progress Monday or Tuesday, Geoff ran to catch up with Gavin, who was walking faster than usual with his hood over his head and his arms crossed. Geoff opened up his umbrella over both their heads, his arm hovering above Gavin's shoulders. "This should be good for the garden." Geoff loudly joked over the roaring rain.

Gavin looked up at him, the same glum look mixed with mild curiosity this time, "Do you have a garden?" This was the first time Gavin had really interacted with him back since Friday, and the absurd question that triggered it caught Geoff off guard,

"N-No, that was a joke. I'm sure this would probably over-hydrate anything you were growing anyway." Gavin went back to staring at his feet as he splashed puddles every time he took a step. "Hopefully it's not like this all week, my friends and I were gonna go drive to this festival happening in Dallas this weekend." If Gavin, had heard him, he sure didn't give a ****. "Do you like the rain?" was all Geoff could think of to say.

Gavin shrugged, "When I'm inside sure, it's alright."

Geoff laughed, "Yeah, being cold and your feet never being fully dry kind of sucks." Gavin huffed, and Geoff felt an enormous amount of achievement for such a small sign of amusement. But he was making progress.

On Thursday morning, Gavin looked more depressing than ever, his eyes were sunken and a little bloodshot and puffy like he'd been continuously rubbing his eyes. He walked, or more shuffled along, like a zombie, and this time Geoff knew there was something really ****ty affecting him.

"Gav, I meant what I said on Friday, you can tell me anything. As an older person, I am full of wisdom." he said. Gavin didn't say anything, so Geoff continued, "I'm not going to judge you for anything. My advice may not always be solid, but I can just be here to listen."

"Why do you care so much?" Gavin asked abruptly, showing more emotion than he had in days; it was annoyance, but it was still _something_ at least.

A little light flicked on in Geoff's mind, like a question he'd been quietly asking this whole time was now screaming at him to seriously _think_ about it, why _did_ he care so much. It wasn't like he'd thought Gavin would do that same for him, but he just wanted-needed-to see him smile again. He longed to hear that throaty laugh again, it was something that he never realized he cherished until now, and not hearing it from every joke he cracked was somewhat soul crushing. This time, and it almost made him laugh, Geoff shrugged, "I guess I just felt like being a good human being for once in my **** life instead of being the literal human form of a sloth. I mean really, I'm cute and all, but what do I even _contribute_ to society."

Gavin looked up at him, and something about his glassy eyes made Geoff's heart shatter, "I think you're okay." he said. And Geoff felt something he hadn't expected, warmth. He felt it spread across his cheek and he quickly looked ahead so Gavin wouldn't see.

"Okay just about sums me up." he chuckled lightly. "But seriously, it's weird not to see you anything but cheerful. I know we aren't exactly best buds, but I still care-or whatever." he added the last part quickly so it wouldn't sound so **** serious. "When you're ready to talk, just talk."

Gavin nodded and went back to looking at the cars parked on the street beside them.

Thursday afternoon, Gavin seemed to just want to get home as soon as possible, Geoff almost missed him as he was already halfway towards their street. "Jesus Christ, you joining the speed walking mom club?" Geoff puffed as he slowed his run just a little to keep up with the smaller boy. Gavin didn't say anything. "You got any homework? Do you need my help? I'm all cool to come over this afternoon, not like I'm doing anything with my life." he struggled to get out through deep breaths. Gavin didn't say anything, but instead, if it was even possible to call it a walk anymore, he walked faster. "Gavin, seriously? What is _wrong_? I'm here okay, I _will_ listen and I won't judge you. I won't say anything if you don't want me to. Just say _some_ thing."

Gavin stopped abruptly when they rounded the corner of their street and looked at Geoff, his eyes filled with watery tears. "You can't fix it, Geoff. I'm dealing with it, and you reminding me every day that I look like I sad sack of dog ****e _doesn't_ help. So just keep your nose in your own crap, and I'll deal with it." he almost choked at the end, but he got his point across.

Geoff absolutely _loathed_ himself for wanting so badly to make a joke about Gavin's larger-than-normal nose as the boy was on the verge of crying, but he didn't get a chance to say anything anyway, as the Brit broke off in a run towards his home. Geoff just stood there, his mouth still open looking for something comforting to say. He wouldn't give up, Gavin would _not_ spend another day without laughing even if Geoff had to die trying to get him to even _smile_.

Friday morning rolled around and Geoff waited on his front lawn for Gavin to come out. It seemed Gavin had left it to the very last possible minute because he finally shut the front door behind him at about 8:55. He seemed to really not want to talk to Geoff because he continued down on his side of the street quickly. Geoff jumped up and jogged over to him. "Hey, listen, I may not be able to fix it, but maybe I can make you feel better about it. Just, _tell_ me, hell, give me a god**** general overview of what bull**** is getting to you." Gavin continued quickly walking silently. "Gavin, I know we don't know each other that well, but you know what, I kind of wish I paid more attention to you, from what I do know about you, you're actually really funny and thoughtful and _smart_ and I'm sure if we were in the same grade, we'd hang out all the time." Geoff could only see the outline of Gavin rolling his eyes, but the audible scoff from him was enough for his attitude to register. "I'm serious Gavin, I really regret not inviting you over for tea or whatever the **** middle schoolers in England do."

Gavin sighed, but didn't say anything, and suddenly they were approaching school and Geoff's week was almost up. At the front gate, Geoff grabbed Gavin's arm and turned him around, "Gavin, if you just keep it all to yourself, bottled up, it'll seriously do some damage to your brain. You have to tell someone. Would you rather it be to someone who you're really close to, or someone you only speak to now and then, who basically doesn't even have the _right_ to judge you."

Gavin looked away for a moment, before turning back to Geoff, his eyes now reddening and tears welling in the corners. "I-I might have to move back to England. Not that I don't like it there, it's just that I've had such a good, and happy, and enjoyable, and just- _lovely_ time in America and I've grown so attached to it and I've made so many friends here and I always had a plan to graduate here and get a job here and buy a home here and have a career here and build a family here with some nice American that can make me laugh and have a generally fun night out with. I had this big plan for myself, and it all involved me being here, and now they're telling me that I have to go back..." he trailed off as the first tear rolled down his cheek. "It's all ****. It's all ruined, I have nothing now." 

Geoff wanted to do something, wanted to wipe the tear away, to hug him, to tell him that he'd god**** kidnap him to prevent him from leaving, but the bell rang and everyone around them began to shuffle off into class, and so did Gavin, wiping away the tear and leaving Geoff on his own.

Geoff didn't spend one waking moment that day not thinking about Gavin. He seemed so torn up about leaving. He supposed that if _he'd_ planned for his future and one day his big plan got flipped upside down, he'd be pretty upset too. He contemplated actually faking Gavin's death so he didn't have to leave. But whether he was going to be taken away or not, Geoff only had a few remaining hours to make Gavin laugh and it seemed as though the younger boy would never be happy as long as the threat of moving back across the world was looming over his head.

So when he saw Gavin making his way out of school, Geoff really didn't know what to say. He still jogged to catch up with him, but he didn't say a word.

They were halfway home before Gavin finally said, "I've been fighting my parents on it every day since I found out last week."

Geoff nodded. "Have you told them about your plan?" he probably knew what the answer was, but he'd said that he'd be there for Gavin this whole time so he couldn't just back off now, even though he _didn't_ know how to fix it.

"Yeah," he grumbled, kicking a small stone on the gravel rode, he imitated his mother, "You can have the same life there, just adjust a little." he scoffed, "She doesn't get it."

It felt weird for Geoff not to crack a joke at this point, but his mind was racing too fast to even _try_ and narrow it down to one. He probably had a total of 3 minutes to make Gavin laugh, but it seemed in this situation nothing could make him _really_ laugh, nothing would allow Geoff to hear that throaty laugh again...but then something struck him, maybe it wouldn't make the Brit laugh, but there was a chance he would at least _smile_. "Hey, Gav." it was the first time Geoff had called him that, but it sounded so natural, and Gavin just looked up at him like that's what he'd called him this whole time, "What if you lived with _me_? What if you stayed in America and we shared a house?" 

Gavin was silent for at least a minute, "I, uh, I don't know. I don't think my parents would let me." he said slowly, still thinking thoroughly about it.

Geoff had taken that into account, "But your mom knows mine and they're friends-right? I'm sure they could work _something_ out. You'll ask them? You'll ask them about living with me, at least till you graduate?" he sounded a little more eager than he should have, but he thought about how many epiphanies he'd had about Gavin within the last week and how he thought it'd be incredible to wake up every morning and make breakfast for him and watch him pad out of his bedroom and rub his eyes and Geoff would ruffle his bed hair and they'd stand in front of the mirror and brush their teeth together and when they weren't doing their schoolwork they'd play games together. 

"I could ask I guess." said Gavin as they approached their houses. Once they were at them, they stopped and turned to each other. "Thanks, by the way Geoff. None of my friends in my grade noticed there was anything wrong with me. And considering I've probably talked to you more in the last week than I have for the past like, 4 years I've been her, that's probably saying something about the kind of bloke you are."

Geoff smiled, "And what kind of bloke is that?" he asked.

Gavin shrugged, "I don't know, caring, generous, you're a pretty good listener. You make me laugh." he smiled when he said the last sentence. And so did Geoff, he felt momentous achievement and was tempted to fist bump the air but decided it'd probably ruin the moment.

And then Geoff was leaning in, he didn't know why or what had possessed him to do it, but it felt right, he placed his hands on Gavin's shoulders and connected their lips gently. Gavin made a small squeak but didn't move, instead he grabbed Geoff's elbows and deepened the kiss. Geoff pulled away for air and looked down at Gavin. The boy's eyes were still closed and his cheeks were burning, and Geoff was pretty sure his were too. After a too long silence, Geoff said "I-Sorry about that, I don't know what-why-that was weird-sor-" but Gavin kissed him again, grabbing Geoff's face and pulling him down. And Geoff placed his hands on Gavin's hips. He knew he'd probably regret it later, but he leaned away and broke the kiss, he needed to know for sure what was happening right now, his hands were still on Gavin's hips and the smaller boys arms were now wrapped around his neck. "Is this-are you interested in me?" he asked dumbly.

Gavin giggled, and Geoff praised anyone who granted that lovely noise to him. Sure, Gavin giggled, but he didn't say anything. So Geoff continued, "You'll ask you parents about living with me?" he asked again. He _really_ wanted this now.

Gavin nodded, "Yeah, I won't only ask them, I'll _convince_ them." and with that, they broke apart and entered both their houses.

Geoff thought that even though Gavin may not be able to make his parents see eye to eye, he still felt accomplished. He'd made Gavin laugh again.


End file.
